It is too soon to know just how bad or how good last week was for the Los Angeles Angels.

For now, they're in first place in the AL West. They've got the best record in the American League and the best record in all of the majors as well.

Can the Angels hold onto their first place position through the end of September?

It isn't going to be easy. It was never going to be easy, but it got exponentially more difficult when the team lost their best starting pitcher, Garrett Richards to a gruesome knee injury last Wednesday.

Even with the injury, the Angels kept on winning. They're not the only team holding onto first place in the AL.

The Royals are still atop the Central, and the Orioles have a comfy six-game cushion over the Yankees in the AL East.

The Red Sox are in a free fall, the Twins have a young hitter with a red-hot bat, and the Yankees are winning just enough games to keep their playoff hopes alive.

No. 1: Los Angeles Angels (77-52) 1st place, AL West. LW: No. 1

Normally if you go 5-2 and hold onto first place in your division in late August, you've had a good week .

All of that is out the window if you lose your best starting pitcher for the next 6-9 months due to a serious knee injury.

Garrett Richards' injury is going to have an impact on the Angels, not just for the remainder of this season, but this coming offseason as well.

Look for the Angels to aggressively pursue the top starting pitchers on the free agent market. Jon Lester, James Shields, and Max Scherzer can expect generous offers to head to the O.C. this winter.

In the meantime the Angels need to stay focused on winning.

So far, so good.

The Angels went 5-2 last week. Four straight against the Red Sox followed by one of three against the A's, and all the games were on the road.

This week the Angels play at home and the opponents aren't easy. The Miami Marlins and NL MVP front-runner Giancarlo Stanton visit town for three games to start the week. Then the team's big rivals, the Oakland A's, visit LA for four crucial games next weekend.

Every game is big at this time of year, and the coming week's games are certainly no exception.

No. 2: Oakland A's (76-53) 2nd place, AL West. LW: No. 2

Oakland's biggest problem is that once you've ceded first place late in the season, you've also ceded control of your own destiny.

Oakland's 3-2 week, which featured a series win against the first place Angels was good, but the Angels went 5-2, so the A's are still in second place.

Give A's general manager Billy Beane credit. He won't stop trying to get his team what they need to get back on track.

The A's and Rays have until Tuesday to agree to a trade which would bring Escobar to Oakland. Monday morning A's beat writer Susan Slusser reported that a deal wasn't likely. Deal or no deal, Beane has displayed a dedication to making the most of the current A's season.

At the end of the day, that burden falls on the guys in uniform, and those guys are staring at seven road games this coming week. The first three are against the Astros, but next weekend's four game set in LA against the Angels could have a longterm impact on the fortunes of both franchises.

No. 3: Baltimore Orioles (73-55) 1st place, AL East. LW: No. 3

The Richards injury got the most attention, but the Orioles were by no means exempt from the serious injury bug.

Baltimore lost Manny Machado to a season ending knee injury as well. Machado sprained a knee ligament back on Aug. 11. Last Friday, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports tweeted a report that Machado would require surgery and was done for the season.

Losing Machado hurts, especially in the field where his play at third base is among the very best in the game.

Baltimore didn't respond well to the news. The O's lost three in row on the road to the Chicago Cubs. The losing streak cut their first place cushion to six games.

Monday the Orioles kick off an 11-game home stand. Baltimore will host three sub-.500 teams, the Rays, Twins and Reds. This is Baltimore's best opportunity to add to their first place AL East lead.

No. 4: Kansas City Royals (72-57) 1st place, AL East. LW: No. 4

It still feels a bit odd to glance at the standings and see the Royals in first place.

Kansas City seems determined to make sure everyone gets used to it.

The Royals continue to win games. Six games last week, four wins.

That was enough to give the Royals a two-game lead over the second-place Tigers.

Monday night, the Royals start a 10-game home stand. One game against the Yankees and then nine games against the Twins, Indians and Rangers. The Royals need to take advantage of that stretch to increase their current two game lead in the Central.

No. 5: Seattle Mariners (71-58) 3rd place, AL West. LW: No. 5

Yep, the top five remains unchanged in the AL, and yes the Mariners are still a part of that group.

Seattle rebounded from losing two of three against the Phillies by completing the first three-game road sweep of the Boston Red Sox in franchise history.

Not only do the Mariners hold the second AL wild card spot, but they're only six games back from the first place Angels in the AL West.

Making up ground could be tough. Seattle starts this week with three games against the lowly Rangers, but then they travel east to face the hottest team in baseball, the Washington Nationals. Seattle is 15-6 this month, but the Nats are 17-6. Something has to give next weekend.

No. 6: Detroit Tigers (70-59) 2nd place, AL Central. LW: No. 6

If the Tigers were determined to make this season interesting, mission accomplished.

According to most preseason predictions the Tigers were going to win the AL Central, the ALCS and the World Series. Now, they might not even make the playoffs.

Detroit is in trouble. Injuries are part of the problem, but the real culprit has been the pitching. Detroit's pitching hasn't been nearly as dominant as it should be. Guys who are thought of as "aces" have not performed as such.

Justin Verlander is in the midst of his worst season since 2008. Anibal Sanchez sports an ERA nearly a full run higher than his 2013 mark. Max Scherzer has been good, but not as good as he was in 2013.

The bullpen was supposed to be better, but it isn't.

The Tigers have just over a month to get their stars to start playing like stars. If they don't then the 2014 Tigers will be the biggest disappointment since the 2011 Red Sox.

No. 7: New York Yankees (67-61) 2nd place, AL East. LW: No. 7

They keep hanging around, those pesky New York Yankees.

After starting last week with back-to-back losses to the Houston Astros, Yankees fans and the New York media were ready to start thinking about 2015.

Then New York rolled off four wins in a row, and now they're just six games back from the Orioles.

The Yankees have been able to navigate a series of major injuries to their starting pitching rotation.

That might not read like a description of a wild card contender but the through it all the Indians are still just five games behind the Mariners and six games back from the AL Central leading Royals.

In other words, they've got a chance.

If the Indians can get through this coming week, they'll be in good shape. Cleveland sports a dismal 27-38 road record. This week, they've got six road games against the White Sox and Royals.

Cleveland has to find a way to win a majority of those games, especially the three against the Royals next weekend.

No. 9: Toronto Blue Jays (66-64) 3rd place, AL East. LW: No. 8 (-1)

Toronto's record is only one game worse than the Indians. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, momentum is not in their favor.

The Jays keep on losing and the frustration is showing up on the playing field.

Sunday afternoon, Jays star Jose Bautista was ejected for arguing a called third strike. After the 2-1, extra-innings loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Jays manager John Gibbons wasn't shy about discussing how Bautista's ejection contributed to yet another August defeat.

“The bottom line is we needed him in the game,” Gibbons said of Bautista. “Say your piece and get the hell out of there. We’re trying to get in the playoffs, we need you on the field. He’s a marked man in this game. (Plate ump) Bill Welke? I thought he had a pretty good (strike) zone today. It was steady, he was calling strikes. He was looking to call strikes. But we need you in the game.”

Toronto is just 6-14 in August. Their playoff hopes are fading fast. Toronto has six home games against AL East opponents this week. Three against the Red Sox, owners of an eight game losing streak, and then three against the Yankees.

This a great chance to salvage what has been a terrible month, and get back on track to try and mount a September comeback.

No. 10: Tampa Bay Rays (64-66) 4th place, AL East. LW: No. 10

Spoilers, that's the role that the Rays have the best chance of playing between now and the end of the 2014 regular season.

Of all the non-contenders in the American League, the Rays are probably the toughest team to beat.

David Price might be gone, but Jeremy Hellickson, Alex Cobb and Chris Archer are all pitching well.

The Rays start this week with four road games against the first-place Orioles. Baltimore's home run happy offense against a Rays pitching staff that is ranked third in the American League in home runs allowed.

The Rays are playing to ruin the postseason dreams of their AL rivals and to figure out who fits where on what they hope will be a much better 2015 squad.

No. 11: Chicago White Sox (59-71) 4th place, AL Central. LW: No. 11

The White Sox have lost six in row, they got swept in the Bronx and they traded away former top prospect Gordon Beckham.

If that doesn't sound like a good week, that's because it wasn't.

Chicago's losses were to AL East teams. Can Chicago get back on track when they face their own division rivals? The Tigers and Indians both visit Chicago this week, both teams desperately need wins, but the White Sox aren't going to lose every night.

The Twins are in the midst of another lost season. That doesn't mean they can't try and find some bright spots.

Star first baseman Joe Mauer looks like he's back on track. Mauer is slashing .314/.426/.529 this month. Add outfielder Oswaldo Arcia to the list hot bats on the Twins roster. The second-year outfielder is slashing .247/.295/.603 with seven home runs and 20 RBI's.

Then there's rookie Kenny Vargas. Vargas is a 24-year-old, switch-hitting, 6-foot-5, 275-pound slugger. Since being brought up from the minors he's slashing .337/.369/.537.

Twins fans will spend what remains of this season watching games not for the wins or losses, but to see how the bats perform. The Twins have really struggled on offense over the last few seasons. A resurgent Mauer paired with some intriguing young bats should give Twins fans some hope for the future.

No. 13: Boston Red Sox (56-74) 5th place, AL East. LW: No. 12 (-1)

To fully appreciate how bad baseball in Texas is, one must consider that the Red Sox have lost eight games in a row, are 8-14 in August, and still not as bad as either Houston or Texas.

That's nothing to be proud of though.

Can the signing of free agent Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo make the final five weeks of the 2014 regular season worth watching?

Castillo and the Red Sox agreed to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract last Friday. The fleet-footed Castillo is likely to play centerfield for the Red Sox and should be on the major league roster sometime in September.

That might make the offense worth watching, but the pitching staff is another story.

Boston is trying to figure out what they've got in terms of minor league pitching prospects, and the best answer for right now is "inconsistency."

On any given outing, Allen Webster, Rubby De La Rosa, Anthony Ranaudo and Brandon Workman can be good, bad or flat-out awful.

Add in a bullpen which is starting to show signs of fatigue, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

The Red Sox pitching staff has issued more walks than any other staff in the AL this month. They're tied for the AL lead in blown saves this month with four.

The Red Sox hope that easier opponents will add up to some wins. They still have to win on the road. Boston is on the road for the next 10 games. They visit Toronto, Tampa Bay and New York. It might sound strange, but perhaps getting out of Boston will be a nice break for this young straggling squad.

No. 14: Houston Astros (55-76) 4th place, AL West. LW: No. 14

Chris Carter and Jose Altuve are both putting up impressive numbers. Rookies Jonathan Singleton and Jake Marisnick are worth watching, and when George Springer returns from the disabled list there will be another young potential future-star for Astros fans to watch.

The Astros are still bad though. Maybe they'll avoid the 100-loss mark, but 2014 still won't go down as a memorable season in Astros history.

Houston may try and trade veteran starting pitcher Scott Feldman before August comes to an ed.

The best news for Astros fans is that for the first time since 2010, Houston is a near lock to avoid a last place finish in their division.

No. 15: Texas Rangers (50-79) 5th place, AL West. LW: No. 15

The best news for the Texas Rangers and their fans is that this season is finally almost over. Just a little more than one month remains in what will be remembered as one of the most disappointing in franchise history.

The Rangers are on pace to finish with their worst record since 1985. That '85 squad was expected to be bad. This one was not. This Rangers squad was supposed to be good, playoff contending good, AL West division crown good.

Instead, they've been awful. Third baseman Adrien Beltre is the only player on the team who has managed to avoid being either injured, awful, or both.

Dedicated Rangers fans can look forward to a September in which the team will likely promote, and then play a slew of minor leaguers.

Catching prospect Tomas Telis is already in the majors. Telis was called up Sunday after the team dealt veteran catcher Geovany Soto to the Oakland A's.

When your record is 50-79, looking towards the future is most sensible option.